Ties Between Cendant and Members
Of Audit Panel Are Raising Questions

By

Joann S. Lublin and

Emily Nelson Staff Reporters of The Wall Street Journal

Updated July 24, 1998 3:43 a.m. ET

All four members of the board committee responsible for investigating accounting fraud at Cendant Corp. have personal and financial ties to the company or its chairman, Walter Forbes, raising questions about the committee's independence.

Audit committee Chairman Frederick D. Green and Mr. Forbes have been partners in developing golf courses. Another committee member has invested with Mr. Forbes in several start-up concerns. The two other members have done business through their employers with HFS Inc., which merged with...